


Let The Bird Fly

by Mystical



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: ??? idk if it can be classified as minor but it doesn't dominate the thing so, Cuddling, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Minor Angst, Pining, Polyamory, don't let the description fool you all of this is fluff, jason and his strange lounging habits, nico doesn't actually show up but the whole fic revolves around him anyway, no bromo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3978862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystical/pseuds/Mystical
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy and Jason pine after Nico. After they've already got him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let The Bird Fly

“You look happy,” Percy commented as he draped himself between Jason’s legs. His mouth, the only part of his face Percy could see, was spread in a wide grin, lit by the harsh light of his phone. The rest of his head hung over the edge of the seat cushions while his legs hung off the back of the two-small couch.

Percy had long since given up trying to make sense of Jason’s strange lounging habits, and just accepted the fact he occasionally had a blond, two-legged, overly affectionate cat prancing around his apartment.

Said overly affectionate pet hauled his head up, narrowly missing the coffee table, and woah, that’s not happy, that’s far beyond happy. That’s exuberant, that’s ecstatic, that’s deliriously drunk on something so many rungs above happiness the ladder is in space and veering past Pluto. The not-planet, not the god, though they do keep strange habits so maybe Nico’s dad does like lounging around in space. Percy’s eyebrows slowly inched up as he saw the doofy grin on Jason’s usually calm face. “Dude,” he asked warily, “Are you high?”

“He called me _love,_ ” Jason sighed, pointedly ignoring his question.

… of course. For being a famous war hero far-renowned for his strength and leading prowess, Jason was surprisingly sappy when it came to matters of the heart. “Who, Piper?” Percy didn’t see why he’d be so happy—Jason and his girlfriend threw the “L” word around like it was going out of style, and he knew for a fact they meant it just as much as they did when they’d first said it.

“No, _he,_ ” Jason said, rolling his eyes.

Right, Piper wasn’t a he. Ugh, polyamorous people were so difficult. Not that Percy really had a right to complain, seeing as he was one of Jason’s (not really that many, Percy’s just being melodramatic) partners. There was him, and Piper, and. “Wait, Nico?”

He grinned wider, like an alien who’s unsure of how muscles work trying to imitate human emotions. Wow, that was a messed up metaphor. Percy just rolled his eyes, stepped over the back of the couch, instinctively ducked as Jason swung his legs down even though they were nowhere near the vicinity of his head, and sat beside him. “And?”

Jason pivoted, pillowing his head in Percy’s lap, instinctively gravitating toward contact, like always. At first, he’d been surprised at how often Jason initiated these casual touches, even before they’d started dating. In public, he kept his distance, but in private and among close friends he was always nudging someone, hugging them, draping himself against them. Not that Percy minded. He combed his fingers through Jason’s short blond hair, and if he could, Jason would be purring. Instead, he grew more and more relaxed as if he was receiving a massage instead of having his hair played with. Percy can’t help but smile. This never ceased to be less endearing, no matter how many times it happened.

“And it’s Nico!” Jason exclaimed. “He doesn’t just _say_ stuff like that.” He turned, nuzzled affectionately into Percy’s hip. “You smell like water.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Percy chuckled. “They wanted my help building that new bridge.”

Jason looked puzzled. “Aren’t you suppose to be in school?”

“Break started two days ago, bro.” Wait. “Sorry, babe.” Jason rolled his eyes and he just stuck his tongue out in retaliation because he is a mature adult.

“And here I thought you’d finally turned to delinquency, _babe._ ” Even though the University of New Rome had a spot reserved for him, Jason was still focused on building temples and monuments for every god in the two pantheons, and had no time for an academic life. Secretly, Percy harboured doubts on whether he ever would take the University up on its offer—it’s not like the war heroes were lacking in anything, especially in New Rome, and he was still as passionate about it now as he was two years ago.

“Me? A delinquent?” Percy twisted his face to one of mock anger. “How _dare_ you.” He was… surprisingly stringent about his academic life after he’d entered the University of New Rome. It was easier to focus than he thought it’d be when he was allowed to just _be_ in an academic environment, without having to hide who he was or worry about monster attacks, and with teaching styles suited to the ADHD-addled brains of all demigods. At times, he could almost forget the _otherness_ of his life and pretend he was a normal young adult attending normal school.

Annabeth was all in favour of skipping class if a more _intellectual_ pursuit caught her eye, or if she found the course material lacking. She was the bane of all her teachers, and Percy was the model student, and he still found it hilarious.

Jason had opted to ignore him, once again focused on his phone. That doofy grin was still on his face, and Percy liked to think at least some of it was because of him, though most of it probably wasn’t. “Jason. Jason. Earth to Jason.”

He snapped his finger in front of his nose, and Jason absentmindedly batted it away. “What?”

“Are you really that surprised? Nico’s touchier than you are.” Pause. “Like, actual touching. You know. Affectionate.” After Nico got over his initial distrust and aversion to touch, after they (mostly Jason, let’s be honest) coaxed their way into his shell, he slowly, slowly warmed up to the idea of contact—a brush of their hands here, a light pat there—and gradually grew bolder and bolder, following Jason’s lead, until most nights found him curled around one or the other, pressed against them as if trying to absorb their essence.

Now, he barely shied away from typical, platonic touches, but sometimes skin to skin contact was still too much for him. _Touch starved._ That’s how Annabeth had described it. And who could blame him? He’d been alone for so long, had started shying away from contact way earlier than anyone should (the earliest should be never) and as always when it came to Nico and the first few years of his life, a knot of guilt gnawed at Percy’s stomach.

He’d messed up, and he’d been a kid, too, and he’d came to terms with that a long time ago, but he can’t help but still feel guilty. And some days it felt like the greatest blessing that Nico still gave him the time of day after what he’d done, after he’d left Nico to pick up his messes and maintain connections for him while he just up and left.

Nico still wanted him around. Craved it, even (and he knew because of mumbled confessions pressed to the skin of his neck in the earliest traces of morning, Nico, thin and ghostly, tangled with him under the blankets as exhaustion shrouded them both like veils)—even after all he’d done, Nico di Angelo _let him in_ , and not a day passes where Percy is not thankful for that.

“It’s _different,_ ” Jason insisted as he tilted his head back and looked at him, blue eyes wide and sincere behind rumpled glasses. He didn’t blink when Percy plucked them off of his face, and only shifted slightly to accommodate him as he leaned over and placed them on the coffee table.

“No it’s not,” Percy insisted, settling back and shifting to get more comfortable.

“Yes it is.”

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is.” Jason pushed himself off of his restless legs, shuffled until he was pressed against Percy with his legs slung over his lap and nuzzled into his neck, needy but not overbearing. Percy wrapped his arm around Jason’s waist and sunk into the couch as he nosed the fine blond hairs on Jason’s head.

“How?” He whined, squirming as Jason’s hot breath ghosted across his neck like kitten whiskers. “Hey, stop, that tickles.”

Jason breathed a soft laugh but let Percy push him away, resting his head on his shoulder instead. “How can you still be ticklish after getting stabbed so many times?”

Percy’s mind briefly flashed to dark places— _stop,_ he told himself, bad Percy, that was not an innuendo, Jason was being completely literal. “ _That’s_ different, asshole.” Percy nudged him, jostling his head. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”

Jason snuggled closer to Percy, that hand that wasn’t squished between him and the couch dawdling on his stomach. He was quiet for so long that Percy started to think he _wasn’t_ about to answer.

“It’s just…” His voice trailed off. “He’s never _said_ it.”

“Huh.”

“Huh?” Jason glared at him, though Percy knew he didn’t mean it. “That’s it?”

Percy rolled his eyes and gave Jason a light squeeze. “I always thought it was sort of obvious,” he mumbled. “Nico’s always touching you.”

Jason dropped his eyes and sunk closer. “Some people just like being touched. It doesn’t mean they care. And he’s…”

Right, not everyone took love for granted like him. Percy squeezed him again, buried his face in his hair and inhaled his scent. This time it was something fruity, probably courtesy of Piper. He always smelt nice when he came back from her place. “Stop being so negative, you’ll make me start thinking or something.”

He felt more than heard Jason chuckle. “We can’t have that now.”

“Nope.” Percy grinned against his hair. “And you’re one of those people who like being touched.” Obviously, since they were currently tangled together, courtesy of Jason. “So…”

Jason lifted his head and placed a chaste, lingering kiss on Percy’s waiting lips, and even now it felt like cotton balls were filling his chest and stomach. “Just to be clear,” he murmured against the side of his mouth, “I…” he cleared his throat, and Percy grinned, tilted his head and kissed him again. “I do like you,” he mumbled, such a quiet whisper that Percy almost didn’t hear.

“I know.” He rubbed gently at the red flush under Jason’s heated cheeks with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around his waist. It’s adorable how flustered he got when it came to these things; he’s smooth as can be when he’s in charge, when it’s a situation he’s planned beforehand, but when it came to spontaneous situations, he was so easy to fluster. “And Nico likes you too, so stop being so melodramatic.”

Jason huffed out another sigh. “He’s just so— _distant_ sometimes.” For a second there, it seemed like Jason wanted to continue, but he just bit his lip and sighed, deflating some. “It’s infuriating.”

“I know,” Percy said again, and gave him another small peck. “I’m dating him too, remember?”

And this—this is what Aphrodite meant when she said she’d make his love life _interesting._ Percy wanted to go back in time and laugh at sixteen year old him, that naïve overconfident little shit, who thought that was the end of it, he’d gotten with Annabeth, he had the girl, everything was okay with the world—as if it’d be that simple, as if she would simply stop _there._

He and Annabeth were soulmates. Still are, truth to be told, but loving someone and being _in love_ with them were two very different things. At camp, he and Annabeth had been the power couple—before, he would’ve scoffed at the concept, but hindsight made everything clearer and sharper. They’d been inseparable and unapproachable and no matter how much they tried to open up, their reputation was too set in stone to allow any others into their circle. Not that they were fault free—Percy, at least, had grown comfortable with being in the spotlight, being admired and revered and practically worshipped, and while Annabeth did have a clearer head she was also a child then, they were both children, children who didn’t have the experience they had now, who didn’t know just how much they’d settled into the roles they said they hated.

(It’d been a rude awakening for both of them when they’d arrived at the University of New Rome, to be treated as normal instead of heroes, and at first they revelled in it, embraced it, but very soon the novelty wore off and it became aggravating instead, to be brushed off and talked down to. It’d been a lesson in humility, and one they sorely needed.)

They had no one but each other, so of course they’d clung to each other, and when issues cropped up it was easier to ignore, to brush them under the rug and pretend they didn’t exist. The more they integrated themselves into Roman life, though, the more they opened up and mingled and actually paid attention to others and made new friends and connections, the more obvious it was that it just wouldn’t _work._ The truth is, Annabeth was far smarter than him, her brain leagues above his own, full to bursting with ideas and interests that he couldn’t wrap his head around. That he wasn’t interested in hearing. He knew that if he tried, he _could_ understand—but he just didn’t want to.

Of course, they were still best friends and confidants—they’d been through too much for their relationship to just break. But they simply weren’t meant for each other, not in that way.

Jason and Piper, meanwhile, were still together, but it hadn’t taken long for Piper to realize that monogamy wasn’t quite the thing for her. A lot of children of Aphrodite and Venus were polyamorous, which Percy supposed made sense. What was unexpected was that Jason leaned the same way—there was a reason why he and Piper were drawn to each other, after all.

Or maybe he and Nico were just the exceptions. It was still _strange._ Not the whole polyamory thing, but Jason was just. The embodiment of the straight-laced student, the boy next door. Piper said it best when she’d called him the all-american boy. Of course, those who knew him well knew his public façade was… not exactly fake, but far from every facet of his personality. And that, too, was starting to slowly crumble.

Jason Grace, the embodiment of the straight laced boy next door, skipping college and dating three people. America would be proud.

And then there was Nico.

Nico was an enigma wrapped in clothes that fell out of fashion five years ago wrapped in evil shadows. Evil malicious shadows of the underworld that want to eat you and probably _can_. They’d certainly almost swallowed Nico, and Percy and Jason had been so worried and livid after they’d learned what happened while he traveled back with the Athena Parthenos—they knew it was necessary but it’d almost killed him and even now when he shadow-travelled Percy still felt his gut lurch in fear.

He’d warmed up over the years. Well, more than warmed up, and it was probably more than Percy deserved after what he’d done, if he was being completely honest, but the depressing pessimism was more Jason and Nico’s schist than his.

It hadn’t been easy, getting him to open up, but by gods it was worth it, every time he was on the receiving end of one of those small smiles—the genuinely happy ones, not the ones that were mocking, derisive, sarcastic. And every time he gave one of those rare, face-splitting grins Percy was reminded of the exuberant ten year old boy who looked around camp Half-Blood with wide, wonderous eyes.

He’d wanted to throttle that boy back then if it would just get him to shut up. Now, he’d bite off his own arm just to see him again.

(to see that bright spark in the flame he’d extinguished—but no, not going there)

However, years of solitude, years of wandering the streets, of shying away from contact left its marks, and there were times when Nico felt—overwhelmed, and Percy wasn’t sure if it was just being around people or being around people he knew or being around people who constantly lavished him in positive attention that did it to him. He’d gotten better about bolting—now, he made sure to let people know, and he’s usually gone for no more than two weeks, and the stretches between him needing to bolt got longer and longer.

Percy still worried.

Jason sought comfort in people, and when the PTSD caught up with him he wanted others to hug him and hold him, tell him it’s okay, wrap themselves around him until all he sensed was their presence. Percy, Percy worked through dark thoughts not via purging like Jason but through distraction, training until his arms gave out and aiding construction workers around New Rome or helping his dad rebuild his underwater kingdom until nothing was on his mind but his aching muscles and the need to _rest._ Even so, he still wanted people there.

Nico hid. Nico hid, and ducked, and ran, and sought comfort in aiding others in strange places, mingling with those who didn’t know his name or his face. Sometimes the fact that he’s the only one who can shadow-travel was so _frustrating_ —well, no, that’s a lie, Hazel can too, but it’s not like she can just sense where he is, and he’s far more practiced at it than her. And Percy wants to respect his need for space, he really did, but he can’t help but wonder how much of Nico’s coping mechanisms was in-born and how much of it was forced on him by necessity because he had no one to rely on aside from himself for so many years. It was hard to imagine the ten year old boy would deal with grief like Nico does now.

And he was gone again, he’d left yesterday, which is probably why Jason is here. Nico was the most frequent visitor to Percy’s apartment nowadays, after he and Annabeth broke up. Percy and Annabeth still saw each other a lot but they had their own separate studies to focus on, her moreso than him—he still didn’t understand why she wanted to squish four years into three, but she was far smarter than him and if anyone could do it, she can—and they’d probably maul each other if they were forced into closed quarters for hours every day pouring over their own separate subjects. Percy wasn’t stupid, and he’d matured some over the years—they no longer shared the same relationship they had before, or the same closeness, despite being best friends.

Thankfully, Nico didn’t have the same preoccupations they did, and he was still snarky and sarcastic but handled Percy’s stressed outbursts with almost supernatural calm. Mostly, he was a silent shadow, and it should be awkward, it should be horribly paralyzingly awkward but silence with Nico was comfortable, soothing. It was nice to have Nico here, lying on his bed, scrolling through his phone while Percy sat at his desk, poring over textbooks. Or sitting beside him, reading his own book while Percy mumbled under his breath, or dragging Percy and his books to bed with him, leaning his head against his shoulder, his back, or simply pressed against each other, a warm, comfortable presence by his side.

His favourite times are when Jason and Nico both show up, when he’s free to sit with them and laugh at them and watch whatever movies they had on hand and make fun of said movies and when there were two comforting presences around his apartment. Jason was always so overprotective of Nico, and it was fun listening to their back and forth, as Jason chased him around and Nico tried shrugging him off with irritation that wasn’t real, or with Nico mocking him and Jason’s attempts to take control of every situation. Percy never thought he was one for domesticity, but there was something soothing about Jason being annoyingly chipper at Nico far too early in the morning while the smaller boy nursed his third cup of coffee, grumbling about how it’s too early to exist, and Percy laughing at their juxtaposition while making blue pancakes.

He was gone, though. He was gone and Jason was the only one here. And if it’s not Jason, it’s Annabeth, if not Annabeth, it’s Frank or Hazel or both who drop by and stayed the night. He didn’t know if they planned it or what, or if it’s just an unwritten rule to not let Percy sleep alone, and sometimes he felt a little irritated at the thought that they might’ve planned this without his consult but most of the time he’s relieved. Even if it’s not another body in the bed with him, it still soothed him knowing there’s friends near.

On second thought, maybe he should be glad they apparently figured out it was a bad idea to leave him alone before he did.

Jason nudged his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts. He’d almost forgotten he was there. “What did we say about thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking,” Percy defended before he realized what he’d just said. “Hey!”

Jason snickered and snuggled closer like an overaffectionate cat. “Liar,” he teased.

“You’re not psychic,” Percy grumbled, secretly glad the other boy managed to draw him out of his reverie. Percy wasn’t obtuse on purpose—okay, maybe sometimes. But he’s never liked being alone with his thoughts, especially after Tartarus.

“No, but you think louder than a freight train.” Jason kissed the corner of his mouth, lips blazing warm against his skin. “Enough of that,” he continued, tone light, and the place where he kissed tingled like a burn except—nicer. A brand without the pain, one that only he could feel.

Percy leaned down, kissed Jason, kissed him again, suddenly seized with the urge to make sure he’s _here,_ he’s here and he’s real and he

(loved him)

cared for him. A small sound of shock escaped Jason’s throat before it turned into a hum of contentment, lips curled into a smile as he sat up and nudged Percy back. Percy went down willingly, first on his elbows, then on his back, until his head rested on the arm of the couch and Jason lay on top of him, a warm comforting weight. The brief, chaste presses of their lips made Percy hungry for more, but at the same time not because this—this is nice. It was nice, feeling Jason’s innocent affection, the way their bodies casually moved to accommodate each other, the way they touched, not deliberate or careful but comfortable because they knew each other’s bodies and the way they moved and they can both be naked or dressed in parkas and still jostle and cuddle and kiss with the same ease. This is nice and Jason’s nice and Nico’s not here and Percy missed him, he missed him so damn much.

Jason teasingly rubbed their noses together in an eskimo kiss, making Percy chuckle. “Feel better?” He asked, blue eyes warm, not worried but not relieved, just… there.

“Yeah.” Percy rested his hand on the back of Jason’s head and pulled, face tilted, foreheads resting together. “I miss him,” he admitted quietly.

Jason quirked his mouth. “He’s been gone for less than a day.” And then his expression sobered. “I do too, but you know we can’t chase him.”

“Where is he, anyway?” His other hand idly rubbed up and down Jason’s back, over his shirt.

Jason hummed in quiet contentment and melted against him, eyes half shut, almost sleepy. “Russia, I think.”

Blink. “Nico speaks Russian?”

A quiet laugh. “Not that I know of, but a lot of the touristy areas probably have some English.” He dipped his head lower, nuzzled Percy’s collarbone. “You know, if you keep your phone on, you wouldn’t have had to ask me.”

Percy tried to—unsuccessfully, judging by the way Jason rolled his eyes—suppress the brief look of guilt that flashed across his face. “I’m still getting used to having one,” he protested weakly.

Jason just shook his head, blond hair tickling his neck. “Annabeth spent a long time developing the monster free network, and you don’t even appreciate the fruits of her labour. Shame on you.”

Annabeth wasn’t the _only_ one who worked on it. Percy glared, and purposefully dug his nails into Jason’s back, smiling in triumph as he jerked in surprise. “Force of habit,” he sang. “You can’t expect me to get used to having a phone that quick.”

“Percy, it’s been a year.”

He pouted. “My point still stands,” he said, sullen.

Jason picked his head up and rolled his eyes. “No it doesn’t,” he pointed out. “It had nothing to stand on.”

“It does!”

The blond stared, nonplussed. “On what platform?”

“On—on a thing,” Percy spluttered. Sometimes it sucked dating someone with a persuasive girlfriend who knew how to talk circles until she got what she wanted, even without charmspeak. “I know that look, that’s your I know I’m smarter than Percy and I’m going to lord it over him look—stop laughing! That’s cheating, you can’t do that.”

“Nope.” Jason kissed his jaw, still chuckling—that can’t be comfortable, he still has late-day stubble, his far-past-five-o’clock shadow scratching his lips. “Not cheating.”

“Yes,” Percy insisted while lightly swatting his shoulder. Jason just sighed, resting his head on his chest, uneager to repeat the argument they’ve had many times already.

Usually by this point he and Nico would’ve ganged up on him, Jason with a teasing smile and Nico with an expression of faux annoyance. _Nico._ Maybe he just didn’t want to do this without him here.

Percy ran his fingers through Jason’s hair, and the other boy hummed and closed his eyes, muscles relaxed like he’s trying to turn into liquid, like he was the son of a sea god instead of Percy. His breathing evened out, and Percy thought he’d fallen asleep when he spoke again so he’s totally justified for flinching. “He’ll come back, Percy. Trust him.”

A small, hesitant smile touched his lips. “Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> This thing's been sitting in my drafts staring at me for like four days now take it just fucking take it


End file.
